


safe and secure

by TheQueenInTheNorth



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Bodyguard, F/M, Guardian-Ward Relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-15
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:33:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24203686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheQueenInTheNorth/pseuds/TheQueenInTheNorth
Summary: Kasius wanted time to focus on his research. What he got was his orphaned niece and nephew. Suddenly he desperately needed a nanny. What he got was Sinara.
Relationships: Kasius/Sinara (Marvel)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

Kasius stroked Mia’s back soothingly, hoping she couldn’t tell he was about as overwhelmed as she was.

Until a fortnight ago, he’d been Uncle Kasius, who brought silly presents and took her to museums and let her paint his nails.

And then one night, one phone call had changed everything.

Now he was Uncle Kasius, who held her after nightmares and couldn’t get her little brother to take his bottle half the time and was supposed to replace their parents.

He still couldn’t quite believe Faulnak and Mala were gone. He definitely couldn’t believe they’d named him the children’s guardian in their will.

He had yet to make it through Mala's long, heartfelt letter. He barely got past the 'I hope you never have to read this' she started out with before it just got too much.

Faulnak's letter - note, really - was much easier to stomach. 'I trust you'll do right by them. Do your best not to utterly ruin the boy.'

Leo, the boy in question, was asleep in his pram and happily oblivious to the fact he'd never see his parents again. Mia had not quite grasped the ‘never again’ aspect of things, as far as Kasius could tell. She was far too aware they were gone, though, and clinging onto Kasius as if he might be next.

Even if he didn’t think of his father as badly as he did, leaving the children with Garron would have still been impossible. Poor Mia didn’t need any more distress than she was already experiencing.

Standing in the airport now, Kasius could not remember why he’d thought it was a good idea not to cancel the conference. At least Mia had been happily distracted by watching the clouds under them during the flight…

“We can go to the hotel soon now,”he told her.“We’re just waiting for our new friend.”

Mia stopped hiding her face against his neck just long enough to ask,“Double promise she’s nice?”

“Triple promise,”Kasius said and kissed her forehead.

God, he hoped he wasn’t making empty promises.

He was so sleep deprived he barely had managed to fill out the form on the agency website. It apparently had been coherent enough because they’d found a taker for the job. She’d looked a little stoic in her picture but had six years of experience and was available right away, having no issue meeting him on the business trip and then relocating to move in with them.

He needed professional help, it was that simple.

A life-in nanny would be an absolute lifesaver.

If only her plane hadn’t been delayed. They’d been standing around for almost thirty minutes and Mia was getting no lighter.

When the doors finally slide open to let the travellers spill out, the exhaustion of the day had won out over his niece’s dislike for naps: Mia’s head was lolling against his shoulder and she was sound asleep.

Kasius searched the crowd for the woman who would hopefully be his saviour. She was easy to find, tall as she was, with people giving her a bit of a berth, wearing the same almost-scowl she had in her picture.

It turned into a fullon scowl when she caught sight of him. His smile faltered as she strode over to him with a look that did not promise a nurturing, gentle hand.

“Mister Hala?”she said.

It sounded like she hoped she was wrong.

“That’s me,”he said.“Miss Smith?”

She nodded, frowning at the back of Mia’s head and then at Leo in his pram before fixing Kasius with a calculating, annoyed stare. It made the scar on her cheek stand out much more.

“You should have mentioned the children,”she said.

Kasius blinked at her, waiting for an explanation of those words. Had he been supposed to meet her alone first? The man from the agency had made no such mention. Or had he? Kasius had been balancing Leo and his bottle while taking that call, sticking the phone between his shoulder and ear. Had there been certain instructions?

He really didn’t think so.

A joke, then, maybe? Her idea of breaking the ice?

He chuckled, awkwardly, belatedly, and stopped when she raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t get it,”he admitted.

“I might not have accepted had you mentioned the children.” She crossed her arms.“Certainly not for that price.”

“I see,”said Kasius. He did not. At all. But he was almost certain he was still on the plane and having a very odd dream, seeing as this made no sense at all. Best not to dwell too much on it. Soon he’d wake up and meet the real Sinara Smith, who would not speak in riddles and would certainly not look horrified when Leo woke up with disgruntled squawks.

Kasius adjusted his grip on Mia so he could rock the pram a bit.

“I don’t think you do,”Sinara said. Her voice had gone a little shriller, right along with Leo’s mewling getting louder.“This changes everything.”

“Can you just pick him up?”Kasius asked.

Dream or not, he wasn’t going to set Mia down on the filthy floor and he certainly wasn’t going to let Leo cry without reassuring him.

“I don’t do kids,”Sinara said.“Not without extensive negotiation, not ones this young, not with you springing it on me. What kind of idiot thinks that’s alright?”

Kasius stared at her, his mouth hanging open. Something was very, very wrong.

“What kind of nanny doesn’t do kids?”he asked, already dreading the answer.

Had he been tired enough to mistake some weird kink website for a nanny agency? That probably was a thing, wasn’t it?

Now it was Sinara’s turn to gape at him.

“Nanny?”she finally echoed.“I’m not - what - I’m a bodyguard. Your ad said you needed round the clock protection.”

“No.” Kasius bounced the pram, which thankfully calmed Leo down.“No, see, the agency was recommended to me. ‘Safe and secure’, all the childcare you need. I filled out the form.”

He was about to wake up. Any second now. Just his luck that he’d have this strange nightmare when he finally managed to get some sleep without either kid waking him up right away.

“It’s ‘Safety and security’.” Her scowl faded somewhat.“It’s a personal security agency. You filled out a form, yes. I saw it. It was sloppy.”

“I haven’t slept properly since I got custody,”Kasius snapped. His eyes were stinging and it was not the soreness from being tired that he was almost used to now.“It was sloppy because - oh God, please say you’re joking. I really need help.”

“I’m not a nanny,”Sinara said. Her voice was suddenly much softer. She looked no less horrified.

He was not waking up. Why was he not waking up?

“I’m really sorry,”Kasius said.

He blinked rapidly. An iron fist was closing around his heart, spreading cold throughout his body. He had not cried at the funeral. He blinked faster.

“I must have made a mistake,”he said. His voice broke on the last word; he cleared his throat and hugged Mia tight, trying to find comfort in her warmth.“I’ll pay for your flight back, of course, and for the inconvenience. I’m so, so sorry. I must have -”

He broke off, the sob too insistent on working its way up his throat to let the words out. It was all he could do to not let the sob past his lips. This was not a dream. He was awake. Not even his own subconscious could do something so cruel to him.

“That’s okay,”Sinara said. Her hand was hovering awkwardly between them, like she couldn’t decide whether she wanted to pat his shoulder comfortingly or push him and run.“It’s - uhm, are you okay?”

He nodded, trying to covertly wipe the traitorous tear running down his cheek away on Mia’s hair.

“This is a really important weekend. I’ve been planning this for months.” He took a shuddering breath.“I did not plan on my brother and his wife dying and leaving me with two kids I have no clue how to take care off.” He let out a shrill, near hysterical laugh. It was that or fullon sobbing.“I can’t even fill out online forms.”

“My condolences,”Sinara offered.

“Thanks,”Kasius said.

They stood there in silence for a few seconds, Leo interrupting it with squawks of protest, having realised that the end of the bouncing had not meant a bottle and very unhappy with that fact.

“You’ll get your bottle soon,”Kasius told him and started to bounce the pram again. They should have been in the hotel by now. They should have been getting acquainted and maybe Sinara could have given Leo his bottle and Kasius could have gone over his presentation and - his presentation. He’d spent so many hours, so many hopes and dreams, all that work - for nothing, now.

“Do you have any childcare experience?”he blurted. Before she actually could run, he hastily added,“Just this weekend, I’ll double your rate, and I’ll be there all the time except about two hours and they should be napping for that.”

The nap bit was a blatant lie but desperate times…

“Do you even know my rate?”she asked.

“Triple your rate,”Kasius said.

Sinara sighed, and then nodded.

“Deal,”she said.


	2. Chapter 2

Even on their way to the car, Sinara was already regretting her decision. She was pushing the pram because her small trolley was much easier to steer one-handed and her new employer was still carrying the little girl. His niece, apparently.

The baby, meanwhile, was staring up at Sinara like he knew she was uncomfortable and was amused about it.

Well, alright, he was quite possibly directing his toothless grin at the mobile dangling between them and not at her, but what the hell did she know about babies? She hadn’t been around any in as long as she had been able to avoid it.

Triple pay, she reminded herself. She could get through two days for triple pay.

It was much harder to convince herself of that when she watched Kasius - who’d offered first name basis much too quickly for her liking, but she’d suffer that for two days of triple pay, too - strap his nephew into his carseat and became suddenly aware that she was being watched, too.

She looked from the baby blowing spit bubbles to the girl, now awake and eyeing her critically.

“Are you Miss Nara?”she asked, oddly accusingly.

“Uh, sure,”Sinara said. She made herself smile but could feel that it looked strained, so she stopped again.“I mean, yes, I’m Sinara. And you’re Mia, right?”

“Yeah,”Mia mumbled and twisted her fingers into Kasius’ shirt.

“I didn’t know what you’d like to be called,”Kasius offered apologetically.

He leaned in close to the little girl when she tugged on his sleeve and whispered to him. Except she was not very good at whispering and Sinara clearly heard her say,“She’s not nice. You said she’d be nice, Uncle Kas.”

“She’s just tired from the flight, like you and me,”Kasius whispered back.

She could hear him just as well but she supposed he had done it on purpose for her benefit.

Mia huffed, then returned her attention to Sinara.“You need a nap if you’re cranky.”

“Probably,”Sinara said.“I’m not that big on naps, though.”

Mia pondered that for a moment, accepting the stuffed toy her uncle handed her and chewing on the rabbit’s ear, keeping her eyes fixed on Sinara, who barely dared to breathe. Finally, the girl nodded slowly.“Naps are stupid.”

That assertion did not stop her from falling back asleep not two minutes into their drive to the hotel.

“So what exactly do you need me to do?”Sinara asked, carefully keeping her voice low enough not to wake the girl. She already liked her better asleep.

“Just have an eye on them when I’m giving my presentation,”he said.“You can just stay in the room with them, that’s all I’m asking. Maybe distract them for a bit so I can have a look at the presentation beforehand but that’s not necessary.”

He didn’t look away from the road as he said it. Sinara couldn’t help but wonder whether he was just a responsible driver or whether he wanted to avoid looking at her. He’d basically been crying earlier. He was probably even more uncomfortable than her, if that was somehow possible.

She didn’t know how it could be; after all, she’d been so terribly uncomfortable she’d agreed to play his nanny for the weekend just so he wouldn’t actually start bawling. And because of the offer of triple pay, of course.

And because she’d kind of felt sorry for him and he was cute in a dorky sort of way.

Mostly the money thing, though

“I should manage that,”she said. She hoped that was true. The last time she’d been around kids so small without wanting to run away, she’d basically been a kid that small herself.

“I’m sure you will.” He shot her a brief smile.“Thank you. I don’t know what I’d do if you hadn’t agreed to this. It’s really nice of you to do this.”

“Well, you’re paying me,”Sinara pointed out. The girl had a better read on her than the uncle, it seemed: She was not nice.

“Still. It’s quite the mix-up. Or more of a mess-up on my part, I suppose.” Kasius chuckled, a blush creeping up his neck.“I promise I’m not usually an idiot, I’m just very tired these days.”

Sinara didn’t know how to respond to that so she didn’t.

He waited for a few seconds, then seemed to realise he would get no answer and asked,“So, any other questions?”

She hesitated only for a moment. It wasn’t like she was really a nanny, she couldn’t be blamed for not paying proper attention to the flood of information he’d given her while she’d still been reeling from the revelation that he didn’t need a bodyguard.“What are their names again?”

Mia had been short for something, she thought, and the baby presumably had a name, too.

“Leonidas and Amalia,”Kasius said, as if those were totally normal names. But then, he was named Kasius.“But we just go with Leo and Mia.”

“Is that a family thing, weird names?”

The words were out before she could stop them. She really was stressed out; usually she was much better at keeping her snarky internal monolog - well, internal.

Luckily, her new employer didn’t appear to mind, letting out a short snort of laughter.“My brother’s name was Faulnak, if that answers your question.”

Sinara allowed herself a chuckle, too, some of the tension fading. She could get through this weekend. Then she'd just have to put her life back together somehow because she'd been prepared to relocate for this job - well, for what she'd thought the job was.

But Kasius had said he'd come up for all costs caused by his mistake, so it would at least just be a hassle and not involve having to find the money somewhere while suing him for damages.

She had done worse jobs for less money. Not that she could remember any of them when they'd stopped in front of the hotel, the concierge unloading their bags - which Kasius and the kids had an absurd amount of - and the folded-up pram, taking everything inside before either of them thought to protest, thus leaving Sinara no real choice, with no luggage to pretend to be occupied with and two kids that needed carrying.

The boy was awake and squirming about, making noises she thought might be unhappy. The girl was asleep. Waking her up to make her walk herself probably wouldn’t fly if she suggested it. Not that she really wanted to, the poor thing had been disgruntled enough in the few minutes she’d been awake. Her day probably hadn’t been much better than Sinara’s.

"I can carry Mia,"she offered before Kasius could ask her to pick up Leo again. Refusing would be a lot more awkward now that she'd agreed to help with the kids.

Babies in general were way too breakable for her liking, though, and this one in particular wiggled about an awful lot. Mia didn’t seem quite as easy to drop.

“Thank you,”Kasius said, the relief so genuine Sinara found herself giving him a small smile that wasn’t entirely forced.

Kasius unbuckled Mia and lifted her out of her seat, handing her over to Sinara. She did her best to imitate the way he’d carried the girl back at the airport; it wasn’t too hard to balance her properly but it felt strange.

Kasius picked up Leo, handed his keys to the valet, and lead the way into the hotel and to reception.

Sinara more or less zoned out as he checked them in and made smalltalk. Mia had started drooling onto her neck and it was all she could do not to just lay her on a nearby armchair. She should have asked for quadruple pay. No one had said she’d get drooled on.

She made it all the way to their suite without nudging the kid’s face away from her neck. Just as Kasius swiped the card, she realised Mia was awake, snuggling against her and mumbling something.

“What was that, Mia?”she asked. Just because the girl had accurately pointed out she was not very nice didn’t mean she couldn’t at least try for the weekend.

Mia leaned back in her arms to look at her, blinking sleepily, a frown slowly edging itself onto her face.

“You’re not Mommy,”she said and started bawling.

Well, so much for nice.


End file.
